The Messenger
of Allah (pbuh) said, "When the month of Ramadan starts, the
gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and
the devils are chained." narrated Abu Huraira (ra) (Al-Bukhari Vol.
3: No. 123).

The arrival
of the month of Shaban offers a tired old subject to participants in
Muslim events, even informal dinners and celebrations, and Internet
chat groups: the day to start and end the month of Ramadan.

The issue of
moon sighting has become moon fighting no less serious than the issue
of chads and dimples on Florida ballots. In this case, both sides of
the divide are divided over the question that what is really the
‘new’ moon. Interestingly, both sides of the divide base their
arguments on the Hadith:
"Do not fast unless you sight the crescent, and do not break
your fast till you sight the (following) crescent.” (Al-Bukhari,
Vol. 3:130).

The Islamic
Shura Council of North America (ISCNA), in consultation with the Fiqh
Council of North America, has adopted the position that a confirmed
crescent sighting report in North America will be accepted as long as
such a report does not contradict indisputable astronomical
information. ISCNA comprises the four major Islamic organizations in
the U.S.: the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA),
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA),
the Ministry of W. Deen Mohammad, and Community of Imam Jamil al-Amin).
The Fiqh Council viewpoint is also supported by the research done by
eminent scholars such as Dr.
Yousuf Al-Qaradawi and Shaikh Mustafa Al-Zarqa.

Syed Khalid
Shaukat, national coordinator, and moon sighting consultant to ISNA,
expressing his disappointment over the issue, says: “In the present
era of scientific and technological advancement, three decades
after man landed on the moon, some Muslims are still avoiding the use
of scientific knowledge for making an Islamic calendar and get
over with the feuds and having to wait till midnight for a
confirmation of moon sighting.”

Shaukat
stresses, “Today, Muslims have expertise and access to technology to
understand the calculations of when and where the sighting occurs.
Recorded data shows how the science of moon sighting is compared with
the actual observations. The results show that calculations of
sighting and observations have matched every month since 1993.
Calculations of moon sighting and actual sighting are not two
different things for an Islamic Calendar when it was found that they
both match.”

He stresses
that the results show that with today’s technology, calculations are
far more accurate than the claims of sighting, which we all have
experienced, that often people mistake other objects for the crescent
moon.

Shaukat
points out that calculations for sighting are surety (haqqul-yaqeen),
while claims of sighting may be suspicion (zann) or mistake. He
says that Allah (swt) has
given us the knowledge about the motions of earth and moon, and an
Islamic calendar based on calculations that has proven to match with
actual sighting would enable us to plan ahead of time, while actual
sighting will prove to be confirmatory. This, he says, only meets
the intent of Qur‘an and Sunnah and its benefits greatly
surpass the consequences faced by false claims of sighting and
waiting for a decision until midnight.

The most
misunderstood question is whether the sighting is a means or a
requirement of ascertaining the beginning of an Islamic month. Shaukat
says that the answer to this question is better understood by people
in the Caribbean (Caribbean Islands, Trinidad, and Guyana) where they
have a 6-month long rainy season and sighting is not possible because
of clouds. If they count 30 days for 3 or 4 months in a row, the moon
is then sighted on the 28th or 27th day. This,
he says, is a clear indication that the Sharia did not intend
the sighting as an only requirement but simply as a facility, that was
the sole method available to the Muslims of that era.

The opponents
of scientific calculations also cite Bukhari, Vol. 3:130, and maintain
that the people at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) were illiterate and
thus physical sighting was the method prescribed by Allah (swt) and
thus cannot be changed. Among this group, there are differences on the
number of witnesses needed for confirming such a sighting.

The Fiqh
Council’s view that physical sighting must go hand in hand with
scientific calculations finds numerous grounds in the Hadith. ISNA,
which serves as coordinator of the ISCNA moon sighting program, has
set up a system where people who claim sighting the moon call the
headquarters. The scientists then examine this information and discuss
the various nuances with the reporter to establish the veracity of his
sighting.

The need for
such dual sighting is only strengthened by the fact that in
contemporary times when the skies are also inhabited by numerous man
made objects that may befool the viewer.

Sighting
or Calculation?

The
proponents of determining the start of Ramadan purely by calculations
offer two main arguments. First, the Hadith "Do not fast
until you see the crescent-moon, and do not break the fast until you
have seen the crescent moon, but if conditions are overcast for you
then enumerate for it." [Bukhari] They cite the
statement, "then enumerate for it" as evidence for the
permissibility of calculation. Second, they say that calculations were
not used during the Prophet’s time because the people were
“unlettered,” however, we are now educated and advanced in
astronomy, there is no harm in calculating alone.

The
first argument cannot be sustained because if "enumerate" in
the above hadith is in fact referring to calculation, it would only
indicate the permissibility of calculations in overcast conditions. In
addition, the meaning of "enumerate" is clarified by another
narration of the hadith by Bukhari (also, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn
Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibban and al-Tayalisi), “Then complete the number
of [days of] Sha`ban as thirty.” [Nasb al-Rayah, 2/437-8] This
hadith clarifies what is meant by "enumerate" in the first
narration is to count thirty days, for the first narration is general
and imprecise (mujmal), whereas the second is explicit (mubayyan),
clarifying the imprecision in the first. Ibn Rushd says, "It is
obligatory to refer the mujmal to the mubayyan, and this is the way of
the scholars of usul, without any disagreement." [Bidayat al-Mujtahid,
1/284]

The
second argument about the people being “unlettered” is refuted by
the fact that there were many among the Companions
who were not only well read but also scholarly. In fact, what
“unlettered” refers to is that the means for determining the month
are simple, not requiring sophisticated science or education, equally
accessible to all people, scientists as well as non-scientists.

The
Middle Way

Islam
is a strong proponent of using reason. Today the fact is that
astronomy can accurately establish the time of birth of the new moon,
and the time interval when it is impossible to see the crescent-moon
due its not yet being present. Thus, there is no harm in using this
astronomical basis to reject a claimed sighting which cannot possibly
be correct. Indeed, this is similar to rejecting the claim of someone
who claims to have seen the crescent-moon on the twentieth night of
Shaban!

In
the same vein of using reason, Islam asks us to use the scientific
method. Thus, if a sighting is reported when it was absolutely
impossible for it to have occurred, it will be rejected, even if the
one reporting it is an upright Muslim. This rejection is attributed to
genuine misjudgment, which does not diminish the person’s Islamic
uprightness and acceptability as a witness. Numerous renowned as well
as recent and contemporary scholars support this view.

Universal
Sighting?

The
proponents of using the sighting in Makkah to begin Ramadan anywhere
on earth argue that a sighting in one area is binding on Muslims in
other areas as well.

However,
the hadith narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Nasa’i
rejects argues against a sighting being binding on distant places.
Thus states that Kurayb, who traveled to Syria encountered the start
of Ramadan there on a Friday, upon return to Medina, informed Ibn
Abbas that he had seen the crescent-moon on the night of Friday, and
that the people in Syria, including Muawiyah the governor, had fasted
on Friday. Ibn Abbas replied that they (in Medina) had seen the
crescent-moon on Saturday, and that they would not stop fasting until
they either saw it again, or had completed thirty days. Kurayb asked, "Will
you not suffice with the sighting of Muawiyah?” Ibn Abbas replied, "No,
that is how the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) commanded us.”

Also,
we need to consider that just as Muslims around the world will not
pray simultaneously, rather each area will pray based on the movement
of the sun in their area. Thus, how could they start and end fasting
simultaneously.

The
presence of numerous hadith on this issue only indicates that even the
Companions and their later contemporaries differed about the start and
end of Ramadan, such difference did not cause disunity among them, and
so there is no reason why it should for us.